3. The end, not to shame him, but to gain him from sin to his duty. If the man be good, to set him in joint again : Gal. vi. 1, ' Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such nn one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.' If carnal, to take this occasion to turn him from sin to holiness, or to save his soul from death : James v. 19, 20, ' Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he which convertelh the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.'
IV. Let us see when this duty bindeth or bindeth not ; for it being an affirmative precept, it doth not bind at all times, but as circumstan- tiated. Affirmative precepts, oion ligant ad semper, do not always bind, as negative precepts do, for evil actions are never lawful. Affirmative prece})ts bind only when time and place and other circumstances con- cur ; and then the omission is faulty.
The question then is, at what times and in what circumstances this duty bindeth ?
1. It bindeth not if I do not certainly or probably know the sin of my neighbour ; for reproof by way of charge uuist be upon an appai'enf crime ; as Gal. ii. 11, ' But when Peter was come to Antioch, I with- stood him to the face, because he was to be blamed ; ' 1 Cor. v. 1, ' It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the gentiles ; that one should have his father's wife , ' 1 Cor. i. 11, ' For it hath been declared imto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.' Mark the grounds ; he goeth upon certain knowledge, public fame, and valuable testimony : ' It is commonly reported,' and ' it is declared by the house of Chloe.' Faults that we reprove must be certainly known and evident ; we may not reprove upon bare suspicion, for ' charity thinketh no evil,' 1 Cor. xiii. 5 ; nor upon an uncertain hearsay : Isa. xi. 3, ' Neither reprove after the hearing of his ears ; ' not upon flying report, or forged stories, or the censures of any.
But here we must distinguish between the reproof of a public and private person and a bosom friend.
[1.] Mere private persons are not bound to use inquisition them- selves, nor are they to be too suspicious, and credulously give ear to slanders. If private persons were bound to search and find out faults that they may reprove them, the obligation were intolerable, the number of sinners being so innumerable as they are, and a man could hardly avoid the imputation of a busybody and whisperer. Therefore it is a good rule of Austin, Do not seek out what thou mayest rejirove, but
120 SERMONS UPON LEVITICUS XIX. 17.
seek to mend what tliou dost reprove. Therefore private men are not bound to search and find out faults. The knowledge of another's sin is not scienlia juris, which all are bound to have, but scientia facti, which none are bound to but those to whom the particular care of others' souls doth belong by office ; for iDcir in pares non liabet imper'mm — equals have no power over one another. The fault must be known either by certain knowledge or common fame, when you see your brother sinning.
[2.] A superior and bosom friend may go upon suspicion, but then his reproof must be rather by way of caution than charge, and by virtue of special friendship, that as no guilt, so no blame may rest upon his. friend. A superior is to search out the matter.
2. Not if he hath repented already ; for to upbraid men with past sins is to rake in the filth which God hath covered. The elder brother said, Luke xv. 30, ' As soon as this thy son is come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.' There is a difference between the correction of a superior and the reproof of a neighbour. The correction of a magistrate respects the common good or the example of others ; and therefore, whether the man repent or no, he may be corrected and punished for his faults, and he must patiently endure the punishment ; but brotherly reproof respects the private good of the party admonished or reproved, to remove the fault, not to inflict punishment ; the end is obtained if thou hast gained thy brother.
But yet here is an exception ; if we have good cause to suspect his repentance is not thorough and sincere, or if he be in danger of a relapse into the sin again.
3. If it be evident he shall do no good by his reproof; for all means are required in order to the end. Therefore when there is no appear- ance of doing good at all, or that our reproof will be profitable or attain its proper end, we are not bound in such a case. Ministerial reproof must be given though there be no hope : Ezek. ii. 5, ' And they,, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebellious house, yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.' The waters of the sanctuary must flow, whether men drink of them or no. But in private reproof we are bound while there is hope, and while they are not incorrigible. Yet there is this exception ; every attempt must not discourage us, nor every reproach and scorn make us give over the cause as remediless ; but we nnist reprove, and reprove again, as long as we have any hopes of reducing them into the right way : 2 Peter i. 13, ' Wherefore 1 will not be negligent,' saith the apostle Peter, ' to put you always in remembrance of these things.' Let us do our duty, and trust God with the event. Those that for the present do storm and rage may afterwards come to themselves again, especially if God stirreth us up by the secret motions of his Spirit to- continue our endeavours: Acts xvii.lG, Paul's 's})irit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.' Impulse of spirit doth determine circumstances of known duty though it doth not constitute new duties.